Robots coming for top finance jobs on Wall Street

Trends show that the rise of machine learning will force a restructuring of the workforce in the financial sector. The changes that are already occurring may not only affect routine jobs, as some top-paying jobs are also likely to suffer the effects of this development. This warning comes from Dr. Marcos Lopez de Prado, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Engineering, while testifying before the US House Committee on Financial Services on Friday, at a hearing which was called to determine the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on сapital markets.

In his comment, the professor made it clear that tech firms already begun distributing and crowdsourcing data analysis tasks through special contests. He posits that most voluminous tasks that pose a problem in the finance sector can easily be solved and handled by an army of data scientists who have no financial background or training whatsoever.

According to Dr. Lopez de Prado’s submission before the сommittee, the primary or immediate risk that AI and Machine Learning poses to workers in this sector may not be total replacement, at least not yet. That is, workers in the finance sector are not necessarily at risk of losing their jobs because robots are ready to completely replace them, but because most of them are not trained to work alongside algorithms to optimize and accelerate process and delivery.

Nevertheless, while some may focus on the worries and concerns regarding how automated markets force uncomfortable and radical changes to the workforce, specialists in investment and finance believe that AI could unlock many opportunities.